UX Researcher

Conduct in-depth research to understand user workflows and decision-making processes in extreme environments. Collaborate with designers and engineers to translate research findings into actionable design principles and product features.

Responsibilities

• Shadow operators through 12-hour shifts to understand real workflows.
• Design research studies for extreme environments.
• Uncover why experienced engineers trust their instincts over ML predictions.
• Map the journey from sensor data to executive decision across all user types.
• Partner with designers to validate major design decisions.
• Build empathy bridges between model builders and users.
• Turn field observations into scalable design principles.

Requirements

• Comfortable being uncomfortable—literally and figuratively.
• Can build rapport with both MIT PhDs and people who've worked rigs for 30 years.
• Sees research as a sport, not a ceremony.
• Knows when to be rigorous and when to be rapid.
• Can translate user insights into actionable design decisions.
• Excited to learn an industry most researchers never touch.

Key Skills

• Contextual inquiry in extreme environments.
• Rapid iterative testing.
• Journey mapping across different user groups.
• Diary studies with people who work in shifts.
• Quantitative analysis of predictions and decisions.
• Methods to understand users better and faster.